I recently came across an interesting piece written by Phil Clark and entitled “Must academics researching authoritarian regimes self-censor?”. I believe it is a must-read when one researches in Rwanda, Clark’s focus, or in any other similar context. This article indeed offers some serious thinking about the nature of one’s own field, the challenges of working in a restrictive political environment, and how one puts those challenges in perspective in order to extract the best possible research material.
The introspection was worth it in the case of Ethiopia!